


Embracing Him

by ourdreamsrealized



Category: Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Reader-Insert, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 13:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18366524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourdreamsrealized/pseuds/ourdreamsrealized
Summary: Tony is regressing to old habits right when you need him the most.





	Embracing Him

**Author's Note:**

> This is a submission for Roo’s Classic Literature Writing Challenge hosted by @theimaginesyouneveraskedfor.
> 
> “It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn.” 
> 
> ― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights for Tony x Reader

It was two-thirty in the morning when you woke up with the urge to use the bathroom. A sudden jab to your lower left abdomen increased the feeling, and a sigh escaped your lips in a puff as you separated your heavy lids to see the bed next to you empty, the sheets pulled back. You lifted a hand, running your fingers over the cotton sheets, noticing how cold they were.

You tried not to dwell on his absence, a frequent occurrence since you entered your third trimester, as you rolled onto your back for a brief moment before turning onto your other side and sliding your legs from under the comforter to hang off the side of the bed. With a grunt, you sat yourself up, letting your feet dangle for a few moments.

“FRIDAY, please turn on the lights,” you murmured, and within seconds, your master bedroom was illuminated.

You got to your feet, slowly waddling to the ensuite to relieve yourself of a full bladder that was currently being used as a speed bag by the little one growing inside you.

With your business taken care of, you made your way back into your room, pausing in the doorway. “FRIDAY?”

“Yes, Mrs. Stark?”

“Where’s Tony?” you asked, bracing yourself against the white molding that framed the door.

“He is in the living room.”

You were about to ask what he was up to, but if he wasn’t in his lab, there was only one thing he could be doing.

Closing your eyes, you took a few slow breaths to calm yourself. If you were going to deal with him, it would be better to do it before the baby was born, because, as tired as you were now, you would be a lot worse and a lot less patient with a newborn keeping you up all night.

The dark wood floor was frigid against your bare feet as you made your way down the hall and into the elevator. The floor on the level below was not much better, but you forced yourself to stay awake and to ignore the uncomfortable things that came with being pregnant.

Tony was at the bar, where you had expected to find him, chin resting on the counter and eyes on the half-empty glass in front of him. His fingers caressed the ridges of the tumbler, and you wondered what the hell he was thinking about. He looked so lost, so far gone, that you worried you wouldn’t be able to reach him, even though you stood only a few inches away.

“Tony?” His name was a whisper passed your lips. You don’t know what possessed you to speak so softly, considering you two were the only ones currently residing in this place. Something about the situation demanded subtly, even though you were done with it. At this point in the game, a large part of you just wanted to scream at him.

Why are you doing this? I thought you wanted me. I thought you wanted this with me. Why now? Why right before I’m going to need you to be there for me the most?

When he didn’t answer you, the questions in your head grew louder, more demanding, propelling you forward and to place a hand on his shoulder. “Tony?”

He startled at your touch, dull chocolate eyes moving to your face. “What…Oh. Oh, sweetheart. I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Tony, you’ve been out here for a while now.”

His brow furrowed at your statement, and, while you were pretty much certain of it the moment FRIDAY told you where he was at two-thirty in the morning, his current behavior confirmed it. He was drunk.

“Oh.” His lips pursed. “Well. This is awkward.”

He enunciated each syllable of the last word, and you rolled your eyes at his antics. You had been wrong. If you were going to deal with this, it should have been before you were pregnant, when the two of you were just tossing the idea of kids around.

You had zero tolerance now.

“Tony, why are you doing this?” you asked, stepping forward and brushing some of his dark locks out of his face.

“Doing what?” he hummed, eyes falling closed at your ministrations.

“Drinking.” You carded your fingers through his hair, and he fell forward, wrapping his arms around your sides. His forehead rested on your protruding stomach, and he nuzzled it.

But he did not give you an answer.

“Tony.”

“Hmm?” He sighed, pulling you closer to him.

“Why do you keep drinking late at night?”

A muffled response was what you got, and, although it was better than nothing, you hadn’t understood a word he said.

“What was that?” you asked, smoothing out his hair again.

“I’m scared.”

“Well, I’m scared, too, Tony,” you told him honestly because this was a terrifying thing, having a baby. “But what is scaring me even more is the return of your alcoholic habits.”

“Christ, Y/N, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not ready for this.”

Your heart constricted at his words, at his apology. You didn’t know what it meant. Was he rejecting you? Your child?

“Ready for what, Tony?” You nearly snapped at him, arms falling to your side.

“To be a father.”

“Then what do you want me to do about that? You should have said something before we got pregnant.” You choked on your words, eyes tearing up at where this conversation was possibly leading you.

“I know.” His hold tightened on you as he shifted so his cheek rested against your abdomen. “I just…I just need you to know that.”

You just nodded, even though you knew he couldn’t see you. Your voice would fail you, now, when you so desperately needed it, and you didn’t want to cry. You were desperate not to cry.

“I’m not going to be a good father. I know this, but I need you to know that I’ll try my best.”

Your heartbeat slowed as you registered what he was saying, what he needed from you. Just like that, all your backup plans, including the spare room at your mother’s and the possibility of working for your uncle, went out the window.

He wasn’t pushing away his responsibility, his family. It seemed that his days of doing that were over.

But he needed you to accept him for what he was. A man. A beautifully flawed man.

You wrapped him into your embrace, moving in between his legs and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I love you.”

“I know…Love you, too.”


End file.
